HARDWOOD RECORD 



3S> 



weeks. He believed that with proper financial backing it would be pos- 

 sible to present a very stronjj case. 



.Tames E. Starke of the law and insurance committee, said that he had 

 been informed that two new bills had been introduced into the Tennessee 

 legislature, coTering the placing of lumber insurance with companies out- 

 side the state. He said that the new bills were more drastic than the old 

 but that he had been assured by Mayor Crump of llemphis that there 

 was no danger whatever that these bills would be passed at the present 

 session. 



John W. McClure, special representative of the Lumbermen's Club of 

 ^^emphis at the weight hearing before the Interstate Commerce Commis- 

 sion at Washington, was ready to make his report but this was postponed 

 until the next meeting. It shows that the best railroads of the country 

 proved to the commission that it was possible to secure accurate weights 

 on lumber and other freight although the cost was quite high. He also 

 said that the methods of the Pennsylvania Company indicated that accu- 

 rate weights could he obtained if cars were weighed on properly regulated 

 scales at a speed of not exceeding three miles per hour. He pointed out 

 that the experience of the Pennsylvania system showed that weighing 

 cars uncoupled at both ends was out of the question, owing to the in- 

 tolerable congestion at terminals that would result. He also said that the 

 showing made by the Pennsylvania railroad forced most of the other 

 roads to admit that they had been rather careless in arriving at correct 

 weights. He said that these roads made an effort to impress the com- 

 mission with their intention of correcting present conditions if that body 

 would not adopt any rules or regulations that would hamper their con- 

 duct. Mr. McClure said that he had only about five minutes in which to 

 address the commission but that during this brief period he urged upon 

 that body the necessity for adopting rules and regulations because, judg- 

 ing from past experience, the railroads could not be depended upon to 

 carry out their plans independently. He thought that the correction of 

 present conditions would be very much accelerated by uniform rules and 

 "cgulations, enforced by the commission in justice alike to shippers and 

 carriers. 



Otis A. Felger of the Memphis Band Mill Company was elected to active 

 membership at this meeting. 



Hearing on Log Rates in Wisconsin 



The hearing on the complaint made on Feb. 3. 1913, by the Northern 

 Hemlock and Hardwood Manufacturers' Association, regarding the change 

 in rates on sawlogs made by the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Com- 

 pany, was held before Commissioner Haltord Erickson of the Wisconsin 

 Railroad Commission in Milwaukee on Apr. 24. The complaint stated 

 "that the Chicago & Northwestern road proposed to demand and charge 

 on and after Feb. 11, 1913, unjust and unreasonable freight rates on 

 sawlogs in trainloads of twenty cars or more between points in Wisconsin, 

 .as published in the Chicago & Northwestern tariff, GFD, No. 1098A. and 

 that such higher rates will work an undue hardship and will result dis- 

 astrously to the lumber interests of Wisconsin." 



The Northern Hemlock and Hardwood manufacturers' Association pre- 

 sented convincing testimony that even under the present favorable market 

 conditions, lumbermen cannot afford to bear the increased transporta- 

 tion charges on sawlogs destined to the mills, which the Chicago & North- 

 western is trying to enforce. Seven witnesses testified tor the associa- 

 tion, showing that since the expiration of the trainload tariff on Feb. 

 11, 1913, rates on sawlogs shipped on the carload basis had advanced 

 from seventy-five to one hundred per cent, and that the mills in most 

 cases have been operating at a loss ever since. Every witness testified 

 that he would be willing to accept the carload tariff, providing the rates 

 were placed on a fair basis. 



M. P. McCullough, secretary-treasurer of the Brooks & Ross Lumber 

 Company of Schofield, Wis,, the first witness called, testified that since 

 the change in tariff had been made his company had experienced an ad- 

 vance in rates of eighty-six per cent on sawlogs shipped from Mercer 

 to Schofield, a distance of 142 miles, and that the cost of getting logs to 

 the mill had increased from $1.S0 to $1.90 per thousand. 



W. A. Holt of the Holt Lumber Company of C»conto. Wis., said that 

 rates on logs shipped by his company from the Lakewood district to 

 Oconto, a distance of about fifty-four miles, had increased seventy-flve 

 per cent since Feb. 11, 1913. while the cost per thousand feet of logs had 

 increased materially. 



H. B. Leavitt, Chicago, an official of the Oconto Company, having a 

 mill at Oconto, Wis., testified that his concern secured most of its logs 

 from the Lakewood district. He aroused much interest by his statement 

 that the directors of his company have been considering the question of 

 discontinuing its operations in Oconto, since the Chicago & Northwestern 

 announced its tariff change on sawlogs. 



W. C. Landon of the Barker & Stewart Lumber Company. Wausau, Wis., 

 said that his company secures its logs over both the Chicago, Milwaukee 

 & St. Paul and the Chicago & Northwestern roads. Ho called attention 

 to the fact that the Barker & Stewart Lumber Company is regarded as 

 one of the largest producers of hemlock in Wisconsin and that it saws 

 annually at least 40,000,000 feet, but he said that unless satisfactory 

 railroad rates can be secured his company would probably be forced to 

 discontinue its sawing operations in Wausau. 



W. A. Holt of the Holt Lumber Company again took the stand to say 

 a few words about his company at times operating at a loss, showing 

 how this would occur when the company was forced to cut burned hem- 



lock in order to save it, even it the market were at a low stage. H& 



reiterated his statement that the success of the lumber business in Wis- 

 consin depends largely upon the rates offered by the railroads. 



George A. Schroeder, who acted as council for the Northern Hemlock 

 and Hardwood Manufacturers' Association, believes that a formal decisloa 

 may be expected from the Wisconsin Railroad Commission within the next 

 sixty days. 



Building Operations for AprU 



Oflicial reports of building operations from sixty-tour of the principal 

 cities of the country, compiled by the American Contractor, Chicago, show 

 for the month of April permits for the construction of buildings to the 

 value of $78,188,540, as compared with $83,042,205. While this is a 

 decrease of about six per cent, the showing is not as unfavorable as it 

 appears, for in April last year there was unusual activity in New York 

 City. Omitting the report from that city, there would be a gain. Thirty- 

 eight cities show gains and only twenty-six comparative losses. The most 

 notable gains are those of Baltimore. 112 per cent; Dallas. 140 per cent; 

 Evansville. 115 per cent ; Harrisburg, 218 per cent : Little Rock, 277 per- 

 cent : Nashville, 200 per cent : Shreveport, 127 per cent. 



For the four months ending April, the showing is favorable, the build- 

 ing permits totaling .$226,S4o.947. as against $224,647,323 for the corre- 

 sponding period last year, a gain of 1 per cent. Details follow : 

 April, April, 



1913. 1912. Per Cent 



City. Cost. Cost. Gain Loss 



Akron $1,119,380 $ 704.635 59 



Albany 480.100 904,635 47 



Atlanta 427.185 1.135,396 62^ 



Baltimore 1,626.014 706,508 112 



Birmingham 296,235 197,690 60 



Buffalo 1.097.000 848,000 29 



Cedar Rapids 168.000 133,000 20 



Chattanooga 117.900 192,575 .. 39- 



Chicago 12.329,900 9,345,400 32 



Cincinnati 693.205 947.485 .. 21 



Cleveland 1,880,065 1,806,859 4 



Columbus 774,121 745,737 4 



Dallas 1,209,835 502,970 140 



Denver 242,300 651,850 .. 6S 



Detroit 3,070,195 3.086.405 



Duluth 280,345 172.728 62 



Evansville 448,406 208,625 115 



Fort Wayne ' 222,150 302,650 2T 



Grand Rapids 355.776 285.353 25 



Harrisburg 185,025 68,240 218 



Hartford 378,520 873,520 ., 57 



Indianapolis 1.531,060 1,332,230 15 



Kansas City 1,265,745 1.304,760 .. 3- 



Lincoln 623,085 165,240 277 



Los .ingeles 5,047,065 2.650,461 90 : 



Louisville 510,690 712,010 . . 28 



Manchester 352,352 414,154 .. 14 



Memphis 285.929 224.454 4 



Milwaukee 1.702,340 1,576.666 8 



Minneapolis 1,424.360 2.148,455 .. 34 



Nashville 427,366 142,070 200 



Newark 1,842,278 1,126,777 63 .. 



New Haven 403,135 659,580 .. 39 



New Orleans 251.734 324,827 . . 22 



Manhattan 7.470.358 15,438,826 . . 52 



Brooklyn 3,761.461 5.604.364 .. 33 



Bronx 2.892,281 4,125.741 .. 30 



New York 14.124,100 26,168,931 ., 44 



Norfolk 478,256 246,612 86 .. 



Oakland 652,490 742.788 .. IS' 



Omaha 576.085 504,320 14 .. 



Paterson 149,785 241,636 .. 38 



Peoria ■ 259.101 160.000 56 



Philadelphia 3,689,615 4,503,385 . , 18 



Pittsburgh 1,057,762 1.009,792 5 



Portland 2,887.885 2,305,936 3 



Richmond 496, 141 766,664 . . 35 



St. Joseph 200,127 145,850 37 



St. Paul 926,160 869,799 6 



St. Louis 1,586,006 2,416,240 . . 34 



Salt Lake City 277.151 192.350 44 



San Antonio 156,165 152.477 2 



San Francisco 3,162.020 1,916,659 64 .. 



Scranton 113,390 153.717 .. 26 



Seattle 840.595 1,236,230 . . 32 



Shreveport 156.907 69,217 127 



South Bend 195,727 175.905 H 



Spokane 198.363 193.910 2 



Springfield 113,775 112,605 1 



Tacoma 160,759 124,607 29 



Toledo 886,315 558,450 a9 



Washington 1,162,656 1,049,714 11 



Wilkes-Barre 132,369 97,389 36 .. 



Worcester 493.059 1.279.52u -. ^ 



Total $78,188,540 $83,042,205 .. «■ 



Memphis Territory Back in Normal Running Order 



The Mississippi river is well within its banks at Memphis and con- 

 ditions affecting the output of hardwood lumber here have practically 

 returned to normal. All of the plants m New South Memphis which 

 were put out of commission by the high water are running on full time 

 except where there is interference through lack of log supply. All of 

 the plants in North Memphis which were closed down have likewise been 

 able to resume, with the exception of one or two which are located on 

 Henning island. The river is still falling at a rapid rate and switching 

 facilities have likewise become normal. This means that logs can be de- 

 livered to the mills without delay and that all interference from high 

 water has been eliminated in so far as the movement of lumber is con- 

 cerned. 



Conditions are rapidly returning to normal in the overflow tei'ritory in 



